I have a bit of a problem that I've been dealing with for quite some time and am hoping to gain some insight from others on it. My issue is that I seem to have far too much energy during the late evening hours of the day, mostly the 2 hours before I would like to go to sleep, and not as much as I would like during actual daylight hours. I wish that I could feel as energetic in the morning and afternoon as I do at 8, 9 or 10pm, but for some reason I just can't seem to recalibrate my highest energy levels to coincide with daytime. I have to be up quite early every morning for college classes or work, so these nightly bouts of energy just when I know I should really be sleeping are starting to be detrimental on the amount of sleep I get overall, and I usually wake up still slightly tired.

But, before I go any further, here's a little background info:

I'm a 21 year old female at a healthy body fat %, have been eating primal and relatively low carb (75-100grams/day) for a year and a half with about 95% compliance. I eat 2 or 3 meals a day at varying times, but almost never eat my last meal past 5 or 6pm. I drink very little caffeine, take supplements (multi, D3, kelp, fish oil) in the morning, magnesium citrate at night, exercise in the morning or early afternoon on the days I workout, and use flux on my computer when I use it at night (I've also tried cutting out tv and computer entirely in the evening, but that didn't help, surprisingly). I try to stay as stress-free as possible and think I do a pretty good job of it. I've tried things like gentle stretching/yoga, reading, listening to relaxing music etc to wind down at night, but my mind just races and physically I feel like bouncing off the walls. I'm really at a loss here. Does anybody have any suggestions as to what could be behind this or any suggestions into fixing it? I'm really hoping this isn't just one of my personal quirks that can't be changed, because this is really getting old.

Thanks in advance for any help anyone can give, and apologies for making this so long!

01-28-2013, 06:09 PM

sakura_girl

Have you always had this problem? Maybe you are just inherently a night owl.

One thing I would suggest is up your carb intake, especially at dinner, so that your body feels more comfortable when it's going to sleep. Another suggestion would be to making sure your room is pitch black.

Also, what time do you normally wake up? Is it consistently at the same time? Maybe you need to spend a month or two just waking up at 6am and going to bed at 10pm at the latest.

01-28-2013, 06:14 PM

Darwin17

Valerian Root might help. Only problem is that it smells like feet.

01-28-2013, 06:19 PM

Zeera

[QUOTE=sakura_girl;1076166]Have you always had this problem? Maybe you are just inherently a night owl.

One thing I would suggest is up your carb intake, especially at dinner, so that your body feels more comfortable when it's going to sleep. Another suggestion would be to making sure your room is pitch black.

Also, what time do you normally wake up? Is it consistently at the same time? Maybe you need to spend a month or two just waking up at 6am and going to bed at 10pm at the latest.[/QUOTE]

I've been struggling with this for about 6 months. Before that I could easily fall asleep at 9 or 10 pm with no issues. I am up around 6 most days, and unfortunately I wake up to the sound of the alarm clock more often than I wake up naturally on my own. I also have a nice set of blackout curtains so my room is nice and dark at night. I do try to take in most of my carbs in my last meal of the day, but I will try increasing carbs a bit and see if that helps. Thank you for the suggestions!

01-28-2013, 06:24 PM

Zeera

[QUOTE=Darwin17;1076171]Valerian Root might help. Only problem is that it smells like feet.[/QUOTE]

I've seen this as a supplement and a tea before in the local health food store, but never knew what it was for. I'll definitely look into it, I'm desperate to try anything, even if it does smell like feet! Do you have any suggestions as to dosage and if either tea or supplements would be better?

01-28-2013, 06:29 PM

Derpamix

Do sprints a few hours before sleep, eat gelatin chased down with something salty and carb heavy. I like salted ice cream. I wouldn't take valerian root if I were you, it often times gives you a massive hangover and mental fog and in some cases can make restlessness worse in certain people.

Sounds a lot like me. Unfortunately night owls are a hard fit for the rest of the crowd.

One thing that's helped my tremendously is an after dinner walk. I go at least three miles. But no power-walking. The point isn't to exercise, per se, it's to clear your head, cool down your body and unwind. After the walk, no TV or computer. Hot tea and read.

01-28-2013, 06:35 PM

NZ primal Gwamma

Zeera - do you add oil to any of your drinks/food?
Just wondering because I was slugging back MCT oil first thing in the am, for about a week, and noticed that I was not sleeping much at all. I had the whole restless leg thing going on, couldn't relax etc.....
It started the day that I took my first morning MCT oil, and stopped the day after I finished.
Anyway - just a thought

01-28-2013, 06:38 PM

Zeera

[QUOTE=Derpamix;1076184]Do sprints a few hours before sleep, eat gelatin chased down with something salty and carb heavy. I like salted ice cream. I wouldn't take valerian root if I were you, it often times gives you a massive hangover and mental fog and in some cases can make restlessness worse in certain people.

I haven't tried pranayama. I will read a little more about it. And as far as red light therapy, I've never considered it but again I'll do my research on it. Thank you for the suggestions!

01-28-2013, 06:40 PM

Zeera

[QUOTE=Rojo;1076186]Sounds a lot like me. Unfortunately night owls are a hard fit for the rest of the crowd.

One thing that's helped my tremendously is an after dinner walk. I go at least three miles. But no power-walking. The point isn't to exercise, per se, it's to clear your head, cool down your body and unwind. After the walk, no TV or computer. Hot tea and read.[/QUOTE]

I do enjoy a nice walk, but unfortunately it's the dead of winter where I live so long walks this time of year are usually not possible :(